Fox Tamer?

There is a story about a boy prince who sees a fox that tells the prince to tame him.

"One only understands the things that one tames...if you want a friend tame me..." Finally the little prince agrees. The fox then details a procedure in which he will come everyday to the spot in the woods and the fox comes also. There they would view each other from a distance of safety for several days. Over time they would draw closer and closer until they had built a bond of trust. Then they would have tamed one another. 

What does this have to do with teaching? 

As teachers on the first day of school we are a little bit scared and nervous to venture out and see what the coming year has to offer us. The same goes for the students. 

Throughout the year we become closer to our students and get to know each of them better every day. We build a bonding and then the time comes that we have to move on.

The little prince and the fox proceed to follow the taming process and at the end of it the fox is overjoyed. When the time of departure of the little prince arrives, the fox says "I shall cry." The little prince laments that the taming has done the fox no good. But the fox responds, "It has done me good." And then he refers to the color of the wheat fields (which are the color of the little prince's hair) that will always remind him of the little prince and the joy he has brought him. 

Even though at the end of each school year the students will leave and progress with their lives, they will always be reminded of there teacher that tamed them. As for teachers, we will always be reminded of our students who tamed us. 

It takes time to build trust and time to get to know another person. Over time, we become fond of one another. We grow affectionate one toward another. We begin to depend on that person and they us. This is a bond that is precious and fragile. And we are now responsible for the other person because we have encouraged them to depend on our being there for them.

This is the basis of all my significant relationships. We must build trust, accept and live up to that trust, and accept responsibility for our part of the relationship.

There is a quote in this story that I like it says:"You become responsible , forever, for what you have tamed."

Remember that your students look up to you and you may become their role model. Be responsible for being that kind of teacher to your students. You will build great relationships with them and they will build a great relationship with you as well. 

Story Adapted From: http://www.mindspring.com/~mshall/stories/little.htm

Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom Trait #1

A Strong Link Between Assessment and Instruction:

These two traits, assessment and instruction, are very well connected. If there is no instruction you cannot assess. If there is no assessment then, how will you know if your instruction is a success in helping students to learn?

The teacher continually assess student knowledge, understanding, and skill in both formal and informal ways. I think that it is important to make sure that you plan to assess before, in between, and after teaching a lesson. 

Making ongoing adjustments to instructional plans to ensure progression toward individual and group goals. It is so so so important to make sure that each student is learning and understanding what is being taught. While you are assessing before and during make note of any adjustments that can be made to help any student understand. 

Differentiated Classrooms
Student Tips

Student Traits:

Readiness-student's knowledge, understanding, and skill related to a particular sequence of learning.

Interest-those topics or pursuits that evoke curiosity and passion in a learner.

Learning Profile-how students learn best. If classrooms can offer and support different modes of learning, it is likely that more students will learn more effectively and efficiently (Campbell and Campbell, 1999).

Affect-how students feel about themselves, their work, and the classroom as a whole.

These are some quotes that I love!

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Be the most brilliant color in the crayon box!

Differentiation in the Classroom

Morning Meetings 

Morning meetings are a great way to get to know your class and the for the students to get to know each other. You can do morning meetings every day or every other day depending on your schedule.

Here is a way that morning meetings can go:

Class Creed- This could be a class or school song they sing everyday. 

Greeting-  It is important to at least have a part of your morning meeting be active. This could be having the students stand up and shake hands with someone simply telling them hi. Or you could post a question on the board saying for example, "Hi my name is ______. For Halloween I ____________." Then that person shakes someone else's hand.

Pledge- With the pledge it is important for the students to know what they are saying.

Memorization- This could be students memorizing a poem or piece of text. (Do not stress on your students to memorize it. Let them know that this is just for fun. It is good for them to realize that without even practicing they can memorize, just by saying it everyday. It increases their ability to remember.)

Class Business- Vegetables: things that are just good for us like what we are going to be doing that day, expectations for that day.
Desserts: Something very specific they did very well the day before. "I noticed this person being kind."
Medicine: It will taste really bad but it will fix the problem. This can be used to fix a problem by having a class discussion.
Literary Term: Learn one term a day, then review them all.
Quote: Fun quote for the students and teacher to refer back to. Keep these quotes up in the classroom.

News- Tell the students the agenda for the day and any important news. (Let the children know that the world is not a horrible place.)

Share- We only share stories that will help us get to know you. We never embarrass anyone at home, school, or play. We only share a snap shot not the whole story.

Class Cheer- Every week let a different group of students come up with their own cheer and teach it to the class. (Teacher comes up with one the first week.)




Idea adapted from Sylvia Long

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Be the most brilliant color in the crayon box!